A Very Local East London Diary

December 09, 2010

Twenty-five years ago, when Mothers Square was the Mothers Hospital and the year-long miners' strike had just come to an end, Hackney Council was in the thick of a rebellion against a government attempt to restrict local authority spending. Along with several other Labour London boroughs and Ken Livingstone's Greater London Council, Hackney tried every political and legal means to defy Margaret Thatcher's "rate-capping" legislation before half the Labour group joined with Tory and Liberal Councillors to vote through a budget that was acceptable in the eyes of the law. The Town Hall chamber was invaded. The group leader resigned. Fur flew. But in the end all the rebel authorities complied with Mrs T. What became clear then remains just as clear now - the failure to set a legal budget would mean a hostile Tory government stepping in to set it for you.

May 05, 2010

I still take a perverse pride in Hackney's obdurate performance at the last borough elections in 2006. All around us - Camden, Tower Hamlets, Islington, Barking and Dagenham - weird and sometimes frightening swings were taking place, but in Hackney the message from the voters was a resounding "Labour: no change". Indeed, practically no change at all. But was I right to read the result as a cantankerous yet somehow endearing indication that we Hackneyites are not fickle or easily swayed by fashionable opinion? Is it really all that clever to be as stubbornly unchanging in our political alliances as we appear to be? Should we rejoice in the fact that the Liberal Democrat surge will scarcely trouble our two Labour parliamentary candidates at all? Is it likely that the Council's Labour edifice will be significantly disturbed and, if not, what will it mean?

January 11, 2010

I've been meaning for months to link up to Hackney blog Blood and Property. Under the terms of my many New Year resolutions I have now at last got round to it. And here's an extract from a very interesting recent post:

Hackney Council has confirmed that its legal department has faced a recruitment crisis for the last three years. At least 25% of positions remained unfilled while the department had to deal with the extra work related to the Olympics in addition to its usual tasks.

July 15, 2008

"A key post responsible for providing design advice and comments on major planning applications, liasing directly with the Major Applications team, other members of the Urban Design & Conservation Team, other council departments and negotiating with external organisations including developers and architects. Other areas of involvement are likely to include contribution to urban design frameworks and master plans, and major ongoing projects including Dalston Town Centre redevelopment and aspects of the Olympic legacy plan."

"Hackney Unison says planned strike action by council workers due to a pay dispute is likely to affect 'a significant number' of the branch's 2,400 members. Branch chair Brian Debus said the strike planned for two days in July was the only way to make the government stop and listen to workers' concerns. He said: 'It will almost certainly close a significant number of schools, most libraries will be closed, housing offices, council tax offices and revenues and benefits and of course back office facilities.'"

February 06, 2008

"Hackney has pledged its commitment to tackling climate change by signing the Nottingham Declaration this week. Mayor Jules Pipe and Chief Executive, Tim Shields, have signed the declaration, and the council now joins more than 200 others across the country. The Nottingham Declaration is a pledge recognising that climate change is threatening the environment, and to work with residents, businesses and other organisations to reduce carbon emissions."

January 24, 2008

I went to the quarterly meeting of the North East Neighbourhood Committee on Tuesday night and found it highly educational. Among other things I learned that raw sewage from south Tottenham is being disgorged into our bit of the River Lea, that a gentleman called Eric - yes, that Eric - has observed heavy smoking outside the HQ of The Learning Trust and that Mayor Jules Pipe and Hackney trades unionist John Page have yet to kiss and make up. John, who is among those involved with this pressure group, invited Jules to accept "personal responsibility" for Council planning decisions, thereby rather implying that he doesn't think Jules does so at the moment and should do because they're bad ones. Jules denied this and opined that John was one of those responsible for Hackney's troubles in the recent past. Not everyone at the meeting thought Jules should have said that, but I think most of us accepted that these small, unending tiffs are part and parcel of political theatre in these parts. They are, however, only entertaining in small doses. Shall we move on?